The present invention relates to a pile fabric which is excellent in sewing property and formability, light in weight and has flexibility. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thin pile fabric, especially a moquette fabric, useful for interior furnishings of vehicles, interior decoration, outer garments and slacks.
Pile fabrics, such as moquette, used for interior furnishings of vehicles and interior decoration are produced in the following manner. First, two pairs of ground warps and wefts are woven into two ground weaves, and a pile yarn or pile yarns reciprocate therebetween to interweave the two fabrics as a interweaving warp or interweaving warps.
Then, the pile yarn or yarns between the two groundweaves is cut with a knife on a loom, thereby obtaining two moquette fabrics with two pile faces facing each other.
Conventionally, nylon spun yarns have been used as pile yarns of moquette fabrics for interior furnishings of vehicles. However, needs for substitution thereof with polyester yarns have been increased in terms of high light resistance and a reduction in cost of starting yarns, and the cross-sectional shape of polyester pile yarns and how to use them have been variously proposed as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 63-256748, 6-102744 and 8-120542.
Now, two ply yarns of polyester (T)/rayon (R) blended yarns (hereinafter referred to as T/R spun yarns) have been traditionally used as the ground yarns of the polyester moquette fabrics, that is to say, the ground warps and the ground wefts.
The polyester moquette fabrics in which the two ply yarns are arranged in ground portions meet the flame-retardant standard without a flame proof finish because they contain rayon, in addition to their high strength. Accordingly, no substantial proposals on the ground yarns have hitherto been submitted. That is to say, the proposals on the ground yarns of the moquette fabrics only include a proposal to mix low melting fibers with the above-mentioned T/R spun yarns, and to melt the low melting fibers after weaving, thereby preventing pile yarns from falling off without use of a backing resin (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-146841), and a proposal to improve elongation characteristics of the ground yarns so as to follow the elongation in shape (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-302564). It is not too much to say that raw materials of the ground yarns actually used in the moquette fabrics are only the T/R spun yarns.
Now, when spun yarns are woven, the use of single yarns significantly deteriorates the weaving performance. Accordingly, the spun yarns are used as two ply yarns in which the spun yarns are doubled and twisted. In particular, in complicated structures such as moquette fabrics, the spun yarns can not be used as the single yarns because thread breakage frequently occurs, and for both the ground yarns and the pile yarns, the spun yarns are used by doubling and twisting the two or three spun yarns depending on the yarn count thereof. In the moquette fabrics, ground weaves are also firmly formed, and upright standing pile yarns are already formed in the gray fabric state. Usually, in the finishing stage, it is therefore only required that the pile length is made uniform by shearing after brushing of pile threads to improve the covering property, as well as providing the upright standing property of the pile by combing (brushing). With respect to this pile length, the spun yarns have a number of knotted portions, as is well known, which requires such care as not to cut the knots in shearing. Accordingly, the pile length can generally not be adjusted to less than 1.5 mm.
Further, backing treatment is applied to the moquette fabrics for preventing the pile threads from falling off.
The moquette fabrics thus obtained have a ground thickness that is large, because the two ply yarns of the T/R spun yarns are used therein and the yarns themselves are rounded. Accordingly, although the upright standing pile fabrics are firmly formed, they have the disadvantages that they are low in elongation, have a high ground thickness and are sewed with difficulty when several piled sheets thereof are sewed on a machine. In particular, when the shape of deep drawings corresponding to seams of the sewed sheets in the bonded and formed sheets, which have recently been prevailing, is formed, it is disadvantageous that the fabrics are thick, which makes it difficult to form the shape.
Further, the ground portions are woven from the spun yarns, and the two ground weaves are interweaved through a pile spun yarn (doubled and twisted yarn) or pile spun yarns. In both, therefore, thick yarns are used. As a result, a so-called xe2x80x9cpile fissure phenomenonxe2x80x9d is liable to occur, wherein the ground portions are seen between the pile yarns. For making it difficult to make this defect prominent, dope-dyed fibers (staple fibers) are mixed with the spun yarns for the ground yarns. However, this is not a sufficient measure to correct this phenomenon. Furthermore, when the sheet form becomes a curved surface form, the above-mentioned pile fissure defect is prominent. The moquette fabrics are therefore difficult to use. Of course, the use of pile yarns having a long pile length results in no occurrence of the pile fissure phenomenon. However, the density of the fabrics increases too much, resulting in a high price and is disadvantageous given the recent needs for reduction of the weight of vehicles. The moquette fabrics have therefore become difficult to be used as cloths for the interior furnishings.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pile fabric in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are overcome, which has no thick feeling of a ground, is excellent in formability and sewing property, and also makes it possible to form a short pile length (less than 1.5 mm).
For solving the problems of the pile fabrics represented by the conventional moquette fabrics, the present inventors have basically looked over raw materials and manufacturing processes used in the moquette fabrics again. As a result, the present inventors have paid attention particularly to a relationship between the ground weaves of the moquette fabrics and the thickness of the ground weaves (ground thickness), and have utilized a flattening phenomenon of non-twist, interlaced, crimped yarns composed of polyester filaments in ground warps and wefts, thereby obtaining pile fabrics reduced in the thick feel of the grounds, light in weight, easy to sew and form, and having reduced occurrence of the pile fissure phenomenon of the pile yarns.
Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided a pile fabric essentially composed of a pile portion and a ground portion, which is characterized in that non-twist, interlaced yarns composed of non-torque or low-torque polyester multi-filaments having a torque of 0 or 100 turns/meter or less, respectively, are laid out in a flattened state as warps and wefts constituting the ground portion.